Will You Eat Gulf Seafood?

With todays market how is one to tell where the seafood comes from. There is also a lot of open waters to patrol to insure no one is taking their catch from the most contaminated areas. They can't test every fish and it's all mixed together. These are also animals that have no boundaries. They swim where they want. One day in a contaminated area the next not. Will it have an effect on how much seafood people consume you bet there are always those that will not take the chance.

If the industry in that area does not police it's self. The government has always been poor to do it. The first person that gets sick from seafood that wants a little notoriety or money will blame it on the gulf spill. There is most likely people already planning ways to capitalize on this. Wouldn't doubt that the lawyers are rushing to sick beds in hope.

One case and the industry takes a hit for a few years. Look for your stores to post where the fish in the case where caught.

Seafood marketed in the U.S. is almost always labeled as to nation of origin. I always look for this, preferring to buy products from the southeastern U.S. Unfortunately, imports from southeast Asia are typically cheaper and the American consumer tends to go for price first, thereby hurting domestic seafood producers.

Yes, I would eat seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. Quality control has always seemed pretty rigid before Deepwater Horizon re: oyster bed closures when water quality parameters warranted. Producers of shrimp, redfish, and other products don't want to market contaminated seafood and undermine their prospects for revenue recovery. Once the bans are lifted I'll be looking to make some gumbo and etouffee.

Here by the Chesapeake the blue crab is it. During the winter months they come from the gulf coast. There maybe a question on everyone mind if they are fit to eat. Which may hurt local restaurants

If you're eating at Long John Silver's, I don't think it matters if it came from the Gulf or not.

Maybe that's where LJS's gets their sea food right around the oil platforms.

Hi Jan,

You can include "all and every restaurants" by not knowing where come the seafood what you can eat in those places. They are protected and don't have difficulties if you or I am sick because their meal. They will prove that they bought from this company, controlled and approved, and make it responsible. We are the risk, not the restaurants. In the Gulf area, many will be closed because they cannot offer seafood anymore, Gil.

I was just getting at Long John Silvers food all tastes the same no matter what you order because they cook it all in the same oil and it's all oily.

No.

For Two Reasons:

1. There are a lot of things in store shelves that have been deemed "safe" to eat but can cause a variety of problems. Most cans are contaminated with BPA. There is a lot of food that is FDA approved, but it doesn't make it good for you (short-term or long-term). It just means that it is not potent poison and you won't die now. Just like ozzb states, no one can control the fish and I am sure trace amounts of contaminants will be allowed. It will be a matter of whether the industry will hold itself to rigorous testing... and chances are they will not.

2. People shouldn't really be eating wild fish anymore due to overfishing. Of course, then you have to consider what antibiotics the fish have in their system.

It sounds like you believe all the impressive credentials of the sources within the FDA. Nothing has been proven to 100% of anyones satisfaction. You can go through life worrying about this and that and get hit by a bus. Contaminants have always been in our food chain and the FDA acknowledges it. It allows a certain amount because it would be impossible to eliminate all contaminants. I and most people my age (75) have been consumming contaminated foods from birth and don't expect to call it quits any time soon. When I grew up in NYC, I can remember the lead water pipes that were used. Wouldn't surprise me if some of those pipes can still be found in use. I will still enjoy all the Gulf shrimp I can get.

No. I am just mostly against processed foods that are allowed to have packaging portraying them as good for you. Then again, people who believe everything on the front of the box are naive, so should we protect them and hold companies accountable for what they write on the front of the box? Where does company responsibility end and consumer awareness begin? That is the main problem I have with the FDA.

A company can claim something is good for you, as long as there is no evidence to the contrary. I have been known as having a "cast iron" stomach; I can eat almost anything without a problem. Then there are those with "sensitive" stomachs where a common food can cause considerable distress. Is this the fault of the food? or is it a physiological problem of that individual. The processed food industry cannot make a "one food fits all"; one version for strong stomach and a different version for the sensitive one which can also be many different types. They have gone with the regular strength, the low salt, the low fat and a few others, but there is a limit to how many different variants they can come up with. They could introduce a canned soup with 5 or more levels of salt content, another 3 with varying fat content and so on. There wouldn't be a grocery store big enough to accommodate such a large collection and the cost would be prohibitive. You may not like processed foods. I personally prefer fresh foods, but Processed foods are here to stay. They are a necessary means of preserving foods; otherwise excessive crops would rot in the fields and the world's population would not be able to be sustained. Processed foods have been around since the dawn of mankind. Early man used the sun, salt, cold to preserve foods for use later on.

Hi Jaxy I'm a little bewilder in whats got your passion. Is it the nutritional value of the foods or the contaminates. I am sure we can all agree to say. That what is mass marketed to us in or grocery store. Has no where near the nutritional value of the same stuffs if we grew it ourselves. Mankind a long time ago progressed passed the point of every one being a farmer. Even the old farmer made choices he cured meat for storage. Even in this process the meat lost nutritional value. His wife can food stuff for storage if not done right could make the family sick. So we have to make changes. These changes progress with societies changes and the technology available. In the processing of our foods some of the technology was not around to determine the exact nutritional value of our processed foods. We as do the best we can to prepare food for storage and get it to the masses. Just like BPA has been used a long time to line the insides of cans to preserve food it keeps it from eating the can away. As of now there are few alternatives to use. Change does not happen over night. We are still scrapping away lead based paints and clearing homes of asbestos.

I think the whistle blowers and the band standers have a place in our society. They bring these problem to the attention of the masses so the can be addressed. But just like the farmer and his wife. In the care they put in the processing of foods for storage for their own consumption. You have to put it in the choices you make when you go to the market. Nobody knows or cares more for your body then yourself.

Agreed 100% ronseto - Jaxy spelled out some very green points quite well and your reply is right on.

90% of what people on green sites are worried about today are comical - difficult to believe that people take them serious.

BPA - don't know how bad it really is but at 65 I could care less. Pesticides on veggies - safer today than ever - I can remember flagging for the spray planes as a little kid. The chemicals commonly used today are far safer than used back then.

Wouldn't the crude oil kill the sea life anyway? This is like closing the barn door after the horse got out, failing to regulate the drilling and then "following strict procedures" to make sure your crab cake doesn't taste like bunker oil.

I for one, am weary of hearing the term "following strict procedures". Politicians need to be regulated IMHO.

I feel that as long as the seafood smells and tastes fresh, it should be safe to eat. The worst that could happen would be an upset stomach, although symptoms of varying kinds could result depend on the person's constitution. I really don't think it would ever be fatal. I have had shellfish in the past that had an unmistakable oil odor, but I didn't get sick.

I just hope that there's enough seafood to go around next year. Being from Louisiana, I love the various types of seafood dishes we have. Boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp po-boy...

It's ok though. We still have crawfish. That's inland and there's no oil coming on shore.

Hey it's Bubba Gump.

I hear you. Shrimp is my absolute favorite seafood followed by Alaska King Crab, crawdads and lobster

I would eat Gulf seafood long before I'll eat anymore of that stuff they're importing from Asia. That only about 2% of which is inspected. We had a warning in eastern Virginia a while back that talked about imported farm raised catfish that was heavily laced with steroids, anti-biotics and hormones just for the American market.

I'll take a little oil contamination any day.

Hooker

So rinse it off first, I'm sure it'll be fine!

Hi Everyone,

We have to add HONESTY as the most important quality control of all foods we have to choose to put on the table every day. Government, EPA, and other decision makers let kill dozens to save hundreds. The present diabetic pills are the best example. So, to nourish people, we get the same decision.

Today, we must be concerned what we eat. Why? First, we don't know the origin of most of the food on the shelves. Second, no one tell us: This or that seafood comes from the Gulf. Why? If they tell us, we don't buy it and the government need to compensate and pay the fishermen or the distributors. If they don't tell us where the seafood comes from, we can get sick and the healthcare will get to pay for it. You think, a hormon produced and filled beef is healthy for human consumption? Lawsuits will come! It's question of time.

What to do with today's seafood? I don't have any suggestion but I limit myself to one seafood meal per week, and wait for another decision from myself, not from anyone.

It's delicate and complicated. Who will be HONEST with us and who will be not? This is the question, Gil.

One important thing to remember is; restaurants, markets and suppliers must insure their foods are safe. Nothing closes down a business faster than a report of food poisoning.

President Obama lunched on Gulf shrimp and crab in a mid-June visit to coastal Mississippi

Don't forget, his taster tried it first.